A supermassive black hole, boasting six billion times the mass of our Sun, resides in MRG-M0138. This discovery is based on data from the NIRSpec Integral Field Spectrometer on board NASA/ESA/CSA’s James Webb Space Telescope. MRG-M0138, a quiescent galaxy influenced by gravitational lensing, was observed when the universe was a mere 3 billion years old.
This image showcases the highly distorted red galaxy MRG-M0138 as viewed through the foreground galaxy cluster. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb.
Located over 10 billion light-years away, MRG-M0138’s appearance is magnified by a massive galaxy cluster, making distant galaxies seem around 30 times larger than they would normally appear.
Currently, MRG-M0138 is not forming stars, and its central black hole is also inactive.
“Utilizing Webb’s remarkable vision combined with the effects of gravitational lensing, we successfully detected this black hole located 10 billion light-years away,” remarked Dr. Andrew Newman, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science and the University of Southern California.
Dr. Newman and his team studied MRG-M0138 using Webb’s NIRSpec Integrating Magnetic Field Spectrometer.
“By merging Webb’s data with gravitational lensing effects, we were able to observe within the influence sphere of a black hole, where gravity accelerates star speeds,” he added.
“This method is one of our most effective for measuring black hole masses, and we are thrilled to apply it to earlier epochs in the universe’s timeline.”
“Only a handful of dormant black holes of this size have been detected, all in nearby regions.”
This groundbreaking finding sheds new light on the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies in the early universe.
Observations of nearby galaxies show a close correlation between the mass of central black holes and the characteristics of surrounding galaxies.
However, it has been challenging to determine if such relationships existed billions of years ago.
This fresh discovery hints that the densest galaxies were often sites for rapid black hole growth early in the universe’s history.
Though currently dormant, it is believed that MRG-M0138 was once a powerful quasar.
Professor Richard Ellis from University College London noted, “By analyzing how stars move collectively within this distant galaxy, we can measure the mass of a supermassive black hole that would otherwise remain undetectable.”
“Proving the viability of these methods for early universe galaxies will enable a more thorough investigation of black hole development over time and illuminate their role in galaxy evolution.”
The full results are published in the journal Science here.
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Andrew B. Newman et al. 2026. Dynamic mass measurements of an inactive black hole star at redshift 2. Science 392 (6802): 1065-1068; DOI: 10.1126/science.adx5816
Source: www.sci.news
